Asus Z170-Deluxe Review

Performance Analysis

As this is the first Z170 board to land in our lab, results are a bit thin on the ground so we can't make too many conclusions here until we've looked at a few more - if you want a detailed analysis of the stock speed versus overclocked performance, the results are the same as in our Skylake review as we used the same motherboard as the test bed for said review.


Something we can comment on is the audio performance as this can be compared across CPU sockets. In short, the Z170-Deluxe lacks nothing when it comes to audio quality compared to the vast majority of X99 boards we've tested. Its noise level of -104dBA and dynamic range of 104dBA practically top the chart and only Gigabyte's X99-Gaming 5P is able to offer anything more meaningful. Overclocking wise, the Z170-Deluxe was a dream to use - a far cry from some of the early X99 samples we saw from several companies, but overzealous overclocks were dealt with quickly and efficiently and each time it recovered without a hitch.

Conclusion

The Z170 Deluxe is an expensive motherboard - there's no getting around that. Combined with the high price of Skylake CPUs, you'd be well within your rights to consider an X99 setup instead seeing as there are far cheaper X99 motherboards around than this premium Z170 model. However, as with the X99-Pro and X99-Deluxe, Asus has lavished the Z170-Deluxe with a ton of useful features, incorporated excellent cooling and build quality, an excellent EFI, good audio and, at least as far as we can tell at this early stage, excellent overclocking ability too. Layout is also top notch, with the exception of the placement of the 8-pin EPS 12V connector and its latch.

We can't draw too many performance conclusions at this stage, but with many of Asus's other motherboards such as the Z170-Pro Gaming retailing for half the price of the Z170-Deluxe, it's likely the latter will be squished into a premium, niche market as more reviews are published. That said, its X99-Deluxe has proved pretty popular and we have no doubt the Z170-Deluxe will serve you and your new Skylake system well. If you have cash to splash right now on a Skylake system, this board would be our choice. If you're looking to spend a little less on your new system though, we'd suggest you wait to see what other offerings there are.